Restructuring of the U.S. political right

Restructuring of the U.S. political right is a broad category that variously tries to regain the political success of the coalition under Ronald Reagan, or, alternatively, tries to redefine the right, which may or may not mean the Republican Party, in purer ideological terms. Under Reagan, the center-right identified Republican Party had a peak of success, which built an effective coalition of fiscal, social and national security conservatism that both appealed to traditional Republicans but also brought in significant numbers of Democrats, especially fiscal conservatives.

That coalition has fractured, and the various approaches to restructuring include Republican party reorganization to make it a more bottom-up movement that remains inclusive, or alternatives that make it more ideologically pure, such as the Christian Right's emphasis on social conservatism, or the libertarian-influenced government minimization. It is not a given that a resurgent right will bear the Republican name, although most serious political analysts recognize the historic difficulty of creating a third party in the United States. Nevertheless, a number of theoreticians of reform define the change in terms of enlightened conservatism, although there is no consensus on the nature of enlightenment; groups such as The NextRight are trying to define it. Other reformers, such as David Frum, believe that the Republican Party lost its focus on governance, overly emphasizing short-term electoral victories.

As the more strategic thinkers focus on the long-term goals, current elections show some of the conflict. In the upcoming March 2010 Texas gubernatorial primary, for example, incumbent Governor Rick Perry emphasizes social conservatism; his criticism of opponent Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is more reminscent of Republican criticism of Democrats than of other Republicans. Even more significant is positioning for the 2010 Congressional elections.

Governance

David Frum believes the George W. Bush Administration lost focus, especially due to Karl Rove's emphasis on doing what was needed for "...Republicans win elections after Bill Clinton steered the Democrats to the center?" but not "What does the nation need — and how can conservatives achieve it?" Frum said Rove targeted specific constituencies with often-inconsistent promises, emphasizing party-building over governance. The problems of governance this created hurt, he says, the Republicans in the 2006 Congressional elections.

Republican views

Within the Republican leadership, views on direction are mixed. There is a recognition that such events as the 12 September 2009 protest march may be connecting more effectively than the Republican National Committee and other organizations. House Republican Conference leader Mike Pence (Indiana) and other elected officials, including U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio),Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Virginia) and Sen. Jim DeMint (South Carolina) spoke at the march. Others, however, such as Mark McKinnon, an adviser in the John McCain campaign said that while there is an " 'opportunity for Republicans" to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government...[but] 'right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements' and are dominating media coverage. It's bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party'"

Pence denied reports that the party was threatened by conservative activists and broadcasters.

You know, the American people cherish their freedom of speech and a free and independent press. That's why I found this morning's headlines so troubling. Goaded on by a White House increasingly intolerant of criticism, lately the national media has taken aim at conservative commentators in radio and television. Suggesting that they only speak for a small group of activists and even suggesting in one report today that Republicans in Washington are ‘worried about their electoral effect.’

Tea Party Movement

A highly visible but recent factor is the Tea Party Movement, initially targeted for anti-tax protests on the U.S. tax day of 15 April 2009; it was named for the Boston Tea Party in the American Revolution. Many participants say it is a genuine bottom-up movement, whose members learned from the community organizing of groups on the left, especially citing Web-inspired groups such as MoveOn.org. It is characterized, however, by opposition and anger more than specific recommendations. Three conservative groups, FreedomWorks, dontGO and Americans for Prosperity, an issue advocacy/activist group based on free market principles." All three insist they are assisting a genuine grass-roots movement. DontGO did create the original website, http://taxdayteaparty.com/. While there is no formal leadership, there is a Tea Party National Advisory Team, associated with a subsequent protest on 4 July 2009, the U.S. national independence day.

While its original focus was on taxes, its scope has broadened, although it continues to be characterized more by protests and anger than an actual platform. Three national figures associated with it are Sarah Palin, Fox News host Glenn Beck, and Rep. Michele Bachmann. Unquestionably, it energizes activists in the Republican base. CNN contributor John Feehery said while it energizes the Republican base, it also presents problems.

The Tea Party combines the best elements of civic activism with some of the worst elements of fringe extremism...While most Tea Party activists are genuinely concerned about the future of the country, some others see conspiracies around every corner and use unacceptable rhetoric to communicate their displeasure with the president."

Some have compared the Tea Party movement and their political allies to Richard Hofstadter's conception of "the paranoid style", which Hofstadter argued surfaces with some regularity in U.S. politics. A number of the signs at the Tea Party rallies have compared President Obama with Hitler or with Communism.

Writing in the conservative National Review, Jim Geraghty questioned the possible irony of "The Tea Party movement in all its myriad forms — free-market groups, little old ladies, crusty in flag hats, fans of Glenn Beck's 9-12 Project — have done everything one could possibly ask to derail a government takeover of the health-care system. It will be a perverse irony if their high-visibility protests end up persuading Democrats to damn the torpedoes in the face of near-certain electoral doom." He suggested that while some Democrats might lose their seats if they vote for the bill, if they fail to do so, they might enrage the Democratic base, with the Republican base already activated, and lose control of the House in the 2010 elections.

Third Parties

One of the major questions is whether the Tea Party Movement will stay in the Republican Party or form a new party. Fox News reports that the Tea Party could well influence the 2010 U.S. Congressional election, with most commenters assuming it will focus on Republican primaries. Groups are establishing political action committees for the financial support of candidate.

A Rasmussen poll in December 2009 indicated there was greater support for Tea Party than Republican congressional candidates, although it was not a formal party. When 1,000 likely voters were asked, without knowing specific candidates, who they were most likely to select

• Tea Party: 23%
• Republican: 18%
• Democrat: 36%

The poll, with a margin of error of 3%, showed that the Tea Party would split the Republican vote.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Dec. 4-5 and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele recognized the potential threat, saying

"we can all come together...This is the conservative party of the country...We offer that ... political infrastructure, if you will, if you want to run for office or if you want to be involved politically. This is the best place to do it.

Litmus tests

Opposition to abortion, to many social conservatives, is the core issue facing the right. To a different constituency, gun control is the key issue. Discussing issues going into the 2008 United States presidential election, Soren Dayton quoted one formulation from David Freddoso,

There is a long philosophical debate to be had over what makes a conservative, but conservatives in Washington have a rule of thumb for awarding the label to actual politicians: It’s the trinity of conservative issues: "Guns, Babies, and Taxes." My own minimum definition of a conservative officeholder or candidate is someone who is "good" on at least two of the three, and one of them has to be "Babies."

Dayton continued, however, that Freddoso's definition excluded such things as national defense, crime, spending and immigration, the latter excluding generally recognized conservatives as Rep. Jeff Flake and Chris Cannon "because they support a path to citizenship and a free market in labor, in addition to goods .... John McCain’s first real apostasy was campaign finance reform. Most of his other major sins occurred after that. Fred Thompson is a liberal because he extends federalism (a conservative principle) to gay marriage. And Ramesh points out that, on the original 3 principles, Reagan was 0-3 for quite a while."

This pattern, according to Dayton, led to "the transformation from the conservative movement from an organization around core of principles to a bunch of interest groups. This is the critical problem...Because conservatism lost its coherence, it has also lost its brand.

Political opinion broadcasting

To an unprecedented extent, broadcasters, some with no direct political experience such as Rush Limbaugh, and others primarily known as commentators such as Laura Ingraham, are variously claiming leadership of the right, or making policy proposals such as Ingraham's Ten for Ten.

Frum has accused media of distorting the process.

There's the perfect culmination of the outlook Rush Limbaugh has taught his fans and followers: we want to transform the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan into a party of unanimous dittoheads—and we don't care how much the party has to shrink to do it. That's not the language of politics. It's the language of a cult.

I doubt Limbaugh and I even disagree very much. But the issues on which we do disagree are maybe the most important to the future of the conservative movement and the Republican Party: Should conservatives be trying to provoke or persuade? To narrow our coalition or enlarge it? To enflame or govern? And finally (and above all): to profit—or to serve?